Way back in the summer of 2002, my father took my sister and
me to see Spider-Man. I knew
of the character, I enjoyed watching the 1996 Fox animated series, I'd even
read a few of the comics, enough to know the general information about the
popular Marvel superhero. When I first saw the film, I was in awe. I gaped
at the image of Spidey swooping clumsily after the thug who stole Uncle Ben's
car! "Go web go!" "Fly!" "Shazam!" Peter Parker
actually said, "Shazam"! I was nearly in tears. Watching the film
in theatres was almost a religious experience for me. Soon afterwards I began
to acquire the comic books, from the "Ultimate Spider-Man" modern-day
books to the "Essential Spider-Man" collections depicting the webhead's
first adventures way back in the 1960's. I tuned in to the campy 1967 television
series, although not for long. I rented The CiderHouse
Rules, Wonderboys, Pleasantville
and Ride With the Devil to sate my burgeoning desire to see
Tobey Maguire in action. On the 6th of July, 2004, my sister and I proudly
bought our tickets to see Spider-Man 2, the long awaited
sequel to 2002's gargantuan success.

Now, I really don?t think Spider-Man was very
good. I mean, the villain was tacky (although in my opinion, the Power Ranger
suit was an improvement over the Keebler-elf-on-acid look the Green Goblin
established in the comic books). The special-effects, while ground-breaking,
had several awkward scenes where Spidey looked like a red-and-blue version
of Gumby. Mary-Jane was a cardboard cut-out with a red wig stapled to it.
And the ending is an oozing mess of ponderous love speeches that do nothing
but lengthen the film's running time. The movie's still somewhat good, but
really, it's nothing special. Yes, Spider-Man 2 was that
good. So very, very good that it made the original look like a cheap knock-off.

Spider-Man 2 begins two years after the original
left off, and in that time the life of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has done
nothing but worsen. Recently fired from his pizza-delivery job, money problems
perpetually loom over his head as Spider-Man's gig takes up the vast majority
of his free time. He's flunking college, his rent is overdue, the bank is
foreclosing on Aunt May's house, and worst of all, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten
Dunst) has given up on him. Tired of remaining hung up on a guy who won't
open up to her or show up on time to watch her perform on Broadway, she's
hooked up with John Jameson (the hunky astronaut son of Spidey-hater J. Jonah
Jameson) and she isn't prepared to look back.

Eventually, the stress of maintaining his alter-ego begins to
take a physical toll on Peter as well. His near-sightedness returns, he slips
off of walls, and his webbing no longer works. Frustrated and needy and heartsick,
Petey decides to renounce his diminishing powers. "I'm Spider-Man no
more!" he declares, tossing aside his mask. He focuses instead on improving
his own life, devouring hotdogs with furious defiance as he ignores the wailing
sirens of police cars. His identity crisis couldn't occur at a worse time,
however. Ambitious scientist Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) screws up royally
while performing a demonstration of his two newest inventions: a set of artificially
intelligent tentacles that attach to his spine, and a volatile fusion-powered
energy source that acts like a miniature sun. Unforeseen problems arise, things
explode, Otto's wife is killed, and the computer chip that keeps the robotic
arms under control is fried. Now under the tentacles' insidious influence,
the new Doctor Octopus becomes determined to reconstruct his failed experiment,
regardless of the fact he could probably end up destroying half of New York
as a result.

Just about every aspect of this movie is a step-up from the
original. First off, the acting is top-notch. Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man,
James Franco as villain-in-training Harry Osborn, and Rosemary Harris as moral
compass Aunt May are all back in fine form, and with meatier roles, too. J.K.
Simmons had me rolling in the aisles as J. Jonah Jameson, who now has more
opportunities to gripe, cheat, and chew on his cigar with ruthless vigor.
And -- finally! -- the filmmakers have seen fit to actually recognize that
Kirsten Dunst possesses a remarkable acting talent. This time around, Mary
Jane acquires not only a mellower, more naturally red hair colour, but a backbone
as well. No longer the dainty damsel in distress, she's decisive, capable,
and razor-sharp. Kirsten Dunst finally has a chance to stretch her acting
muscles to portray Mary Jane with a sizeable amount of depth and personality.
At last, I understand why Peter likes her so much! Lastly, Alfred Molina takes
a bite out of Willem Dafoe, chews him up slowly, and politely spits him out
as Doctor Octopus, gracing his character with a humanity, humour and (yes,
I'll admit it) heart that the previous villain lacked.

Secondly, the screenwriting is much improved. In Spider-Man
2, the writers (Michael Chabon for the story, Alvin Sargent for the
screenplay) seem more content to trust the cast, relying on the actors to
convey the general message with shorter, snappier dialogues, instead of churning
out gooey monologues about how "when you look into her eyes you feel
stronger, and weaker, at the same time". Ugh. My only small, niggling
complaint is that they didn't let Spider-Man be funny. Where are the witty
one-liners he so often lobbed at his opponents during life-and-death battles
in the comic books? The self-deprecating, sucks-to-be-me banter that was so
charming? When he suspends a villain in goo, couldn't he quip "Hang in
there, good buddy!" Or whine, "Could we make this fast, I have a
play to get to!" while he misses Mary Jane's performance as he tackles
a gang of criminals? Is it really that hard for Tobey Maguire to crack a joke?
He was funny in Wonderboys!

Fortunately though, even if Spider-Man remains deadly serious,
the film does not. Director Sam Raimi turns the knob up to eleven on the situational
humour, in order to counter-act the depression of Peter's life. For instance,
Peter has to wash his Spider-suit at the Laundromat, and ends up turning all
of his white clothing red and blue. I swear, he's one "Good grief!"
away from becoming Marvel's Charlie Brown. The pleasant mixture of comedy
and tragedy, and of action and drama, so expertly blended by the director,
is the main fuel that keeps the film running at an even, consistent pace.
Still, Mr. Raimi doesn't let the horror skills he cut his teeth on in the
Evil Dead movies go to waste, adding just enough menace to
add credible suspense to the inevitable fight sequences between Spidey and
Doc Ock.

While some of the pleasant surprise has worn off since I first
glimpsed the webslinger swinging from building to building in Spider-Man,
the special effects are still damn cool. What's better this time is that the
special effects are not used when they don?t have to be. When Spidey has to
walk along a ledge, they'll use the real thing. When Aunt May gets the opportunity
to bash Doctor Octopus on the head with an umbrella in a crucial scene, you
can bet your copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 that that's Rosemary
Harris whacking away. When the filmmakers do resort to computer-generated
hoopla, the scenes are now smoother, more graceful, and more aesthetically
interesting (due mostly to the clever manipulation of Doc Ock's tentacles).

Okay, so I'm not going to throw out my Spider-Man
DVD. Compared to clunkers like The Hulk, the first Webhead
adventure is pretty decent. Besides, if it hadn't been for the first film,
if the original Spidey outing hadn't let itself become a willing lab rat for
experimental special-effects, introductory information, and colourful camp,
the sequel would never have been as stream-lined, as mature, or as hilarious
as it undoubtedly is. To paraphrase Chaucer's ditty from A Knight's
Tale? 'He's sweet! He's funny! He's worth all of the money! Spider-Maaaan!
Spider-Maaaaan!'